‘How I Met Your Mother’ Recap: Did Barney Meet ‘The Mother’ First?

A flashback episode revealed even more surprises about the show’s mysterious, titular character.

Is it just us, or is the final season of How I Met Your Motherstarting to feel a little like Lost? Not only does the whole thing span the course of a single weekend, but the Nov. 11 episode took place entirely in the past — and changed the way we’ll look at Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and the “mother” (Cristin Milioti) forever. Seriously, holy retroactive plot-twist, Batman!

So, here’s the deal: HIMYM creator Carter Bays tweeted a half hour before the show aired on the east coast, explaining that the episode takes place between “Splitsville” and “The Stamp Tramp,” which are the sixth and seventh episodes of season eight, respectively. But even with that warning in mind, the episode was still a bit of a mind-screw.

The episode, titled “Platonish,” picked up while Robin (Cobie Smulders) was still dating — though desperately trying to dump — Nick (Michael Trucco). Following Barney’s declaration of love, and Robin’s failure to return his feelings, the ladies’ man ran off into the night in search of a fling to drown his sorrows.

But here’s the twist: The girl Barney tried to pick up to get over Robin… was the mother!

How Barney Met The Mother

That’s right, it turns out neither Ted (Josh Radnor) nor Lily (Alyson Hannigan) were the first to meet the mother; that honor went to Barney, who attempted to get in her pants, but ended up getting a sexy dose of wisdom, instead.

She convinced him he’s still very much in love with Robin, and that he can’t give up after this minor setback. Obviously, he took her advice to heart, and they all lived happily ever after.

HollywoodLifers, did you enjoy this little HIMYM twist? What do you think of the final season so far? Drop a comment with your review of the episode and your thoughts on the long-running CBS sitcom’s final run.